In this, the first introductory volume of the Cambridge Milton for Schools and Colleges, Professor Broadbent, the general editor of the series, presents background and introductory material essential to students for a proper understanding of Paradise Lost. Chapters on mythology, the epic, the writing, publication and subsequent editing of PL and on Milton's ideology and world-view, provide the background to the poem as a whole. The second half of the book engages with the poetry at a more detailed level and examines themes, structures, allusion, language, syntax, rhetoric, similes, rhythm and style, always showing the reader how he can best understand and appreciate Milton's usage. Extensive quotation from PL and other works by Milton and others helps to make all clear.